We managed to get a little work done last Sunday, but I hadn't had a chance to post any updates. Behold, the vapor barrier replaced:
Yes, all the black yuckiness (blogger doesn't like this word...but it works for me!) has been removed and you can see the tape from the clear vapor barrier. As I mentioned previously, the vapor barrier was the only thing that protected the hardy board that is on the outside of our home, so we didn't want to skip this in our repair work.
As you can see, there is almost no support under that window!! The window is cauked into place, but really, I'm so thankful we found out about the damage before we really had a problem on our hands - you know, like the window falling out of the wall and the wall coming down...maybe over imagining on my part, but definitely a possibility.
Ahhhh, much better!
The pink studs make it really easy to see them. We used all the boards we bought, and now I have no worries that the window will come crashing down. We filled the space that opened to the attic as well. You can't actually get to the bathroom from the attic, and once it's tiled, it serves no purpose. So The Builder sealed it up.
Side note - my daughter is thrilled to know there's pink studs in the wall, even though she knows they won't be seen. She cracks me up!
We need to put in the insulation and figure out if we need another layer of vapor barrier. The Builder is concerned about breathing holes so the new isolation doesn't get worried. More on that in another post.
I knew this wasn't going to photograph well, but this is the best i could get. Floor tile!!!
I mentioned we had to rip out the tile around the tub and subsequently found out that the existing tile was laid over the builder grade linoleum, leaving us no choice but to rip it all out and start over. So I've been looking for the right tile for about a week now. And this is it!
It's hard to see, but this is almost a tweed pattern on the tile. It looks fabulous with the wall color (that we're not changing) and to seal the deal, it's on clearance and cost a fraction of things that I liked a lot less. Bonus!! It has a hint of the wall color in the tile which is perfect. We had to go to 2 different Lowes to get enough, but it cost me less than $100 to replace the tile. The underlayment is another $85, so about $200 to replace the floor. Really, not a bad deal since we're not going plain jane on this! And with new baseboards painted in a crisp white, I think it's going to look good with the shower curtain we have that again, I'm not replacing (...I don't think...sshhh).
And here it is stripped!
Our original thought was to replace the bathroom vanity with a double sink. Unfortunately, I only have 48" for my vanity, and most double vanities are 60". The Builder could do something custom (and we're still debating on doing that) but it would mean little sinks and no room to put things on the counter. I don't think that would work well for us. We found a vanity at Lowe's that we both love, but it's pricey and heavy. Reviews show it to be 273 lbs. - and we'd have to get that up two flights of stairs. We can go cheaper, but I don't like the choices as much, so we may still end up building a vanity. Anna White has one (of course!!) that I think would look great, and after reviewing the plans, The Builder said it would be fairly simple to build. We just have to see if the cost would be comparable to buying one. We shall see on that one.
We spent the rest of day 3 hauling out the debris (remember the two flight of stairs!). The toilet and tub will go back in once the flooring is done. We bought the plywood to replace the sub-floor in the tub area, but The Builder worked again this past Saturday, so that isn't finished yet. He may have a rain out day on Monday, and if so, I suspect quite a bit of progress might get done!
To do still: put in the new insulation, install the cement board, replace the sub floor, re-tile, buy/build a new vanity, tile the shower, replace the shower fixtures, replace the light fixture.
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